Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Centerville (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Winterthur Museum, Centre Meeting and Schoolhouse, and St. Joseph on the Brandywine. Also, be sure to include Mount Cuba Astronomical Observatory in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Centerville (Delaware).
Table of Contents
Winterthur Museum
Historic estate with arts and gardens. Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library is an American estate and museum in Winterthur, Delaware. As of 2011, it houses one of the most important collections of Americana in the United States of America. It was the former home of Henry Francis du Pont, a renowned antiques collector and horticulturist. Until recently, it was known as the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum.[1]
Address: 5105 Kennett Pike, 19735-1819 Winterthur
Centre Meeting and Schoolhouse
Building. Centre Meeting and Schoolhouse, also known as Centre Meeting of Religious Society of Friends, is a historic Quaker meeting house and school located on Center Meeting Road in Centerville, New Castle County, Delaware. It was built in 1796 and is rectangular brick building with pitched roof and brick chimney at either end. Sheds are attached to the east and west sides. The school house was built by the Friends for their children and those of the community. It is square with a pitched roof and a lunette in the gable toward the west.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.[2]
Address: Center Meeting Rd, 19807 Wilmington
St. Joseph on the Brandywine
Catholic church in Greenville, Delaware. St. Joseph on the Brandywine, originally Saint Joseph's Church until St. Joseph's Church- Wilmington was built in 1947, is a parish of the Roman Catholic Church in Greenville, New Castle County, Delaware, in the Diocese of Wilmington. It is noted for its historic parish church complex and national historic district located on Old Church Road. Since 2002 its old convent building has housed the Diocesan Archives of Wilmington, with records spanning the last two centuries of church activity in Delaware. It is also the home parish of the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden.[3]
Address: 8 Old Church Rd, 19807 Wilmington
Mount Cuba Astronomical Observatory
Observatory in New Castle County, Delaware. Mount Cuba Astronomical Observatory is an astronomical observatory is located at 1610 Hillside Mill Road, Greenville, Delaware, United States. This observatory is home to a 0.6-meter telescope used by the Delaware Astronomical Society, the University of Delaware, and the Whole Earth Telescope. Associated with the Observatory is the Mt. Cuba Astronomy Group. The MCAG is composed of interested amateurs and engages in astronomy education and public outreach. Meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month at the Mt. Cuba Astronomical Observatory.
A Sunquest sundial, designed and machined by Richard L. Schmoyer, is on the Mount Cuba Observatory grounds near the parking lot. This mean time sundial automatically corrects for the equation of time through the use of an analemma-inspired gnomon.[4]
Address: 1610 Hillside Mill Rd, 19807-1904 Greenville
Henry Clay Factory
Technology museum in New Castle County, Delaware. The Hagley Museum and Library is a nonprofit educational institution in unincorporated New Castle County, Delaware, near Wilmington. Covering more than 235 acres along the banks of the Brandywine Creek, the museum and grounds include the first du Pont family home and garden in the United States, the powder yards, and a 19th-century machine shop. On the hillside below the mansion lies a Renaissance-revival garden, with terraces and statuary, created in the 1920s by Louise Evalina du Pont Crowninshield.[5]
Address: 200 Hagley Creek Road, Centerville
Nemours Mansion & Gardens
Museum in New Castle County, Delaware. The Nemours Estate is a 200-acre country estate with jardin à la française formal gardens and a French neoclassical mansion in Wilmington, Delaware. Built to resemble a French château, its 105 rooms on four floors occupy nearly 47,000 sq ft. It shares the grounds at 1600 Rockland Road with the Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware, and both are owned by the Nemours Foundation.[6]
Address: 850 Alapocas Drive, Centerville
Strand Millas and Rock Spring
Strand Millas and Rock Spring is a historic home located near Montchanin, New Castle County, Delaware. The name "Strand Millas" is derived from an industrial town near Belfast, Ireland. The Strand Millas house was built in 1701, and is a 2+1⁄2 story, quarried stone dwelling. It was expanded with one room on each floor during the 1760s. Strand Millas was the home of du Pont heiress Louisa d'Andelot Carpenter after her marriage in 1929.
Across from the main house is the Rock Spring springhouse. Adjacent to the spring is a dwelling said by some to have been built in the 1680s, but it was extensively remodeled during the 19th century.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.[7]
Joseph Chandler House
The Joseph Chandler House, built c. 1800, is the oldest house in Centreville, New Castle County, Delaware. Centreville developed along the Kennett Pike starting about 1811, with its houses facing toward the pike. Nevertheless, the Chandler house faces south, away from the pike.
Dr. Joseph P. Chandler, who built the house, used it as a residence and an office. The house was later acquired by the Gregg, Carpenter and du Pont families. William S. Potter bought the house in 1935 and added brick and stone wings to the original stone house.
The house was listed by the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, at the same time the nearby Centreville Historic District, Mt. Airy School No. 27, and Carpenter-Lippincott House were also listed.[8]
Carpenter-Lippincott House
Carpenter-Lippincott House is a historic home located at Centreville, New Castle County, Delaware. It was built about 1840, and is a three-story, stuccoed stone dwelling in the Italianate-style. It consists of two, well-defined rectangular blocks. The main block is surmounted by a square cupola on its low-hipped roof with projecting eaves and it features an enclosed porch with cast iron lattice work.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.[9]
Hoopes Reservoir
Reservoir in Delaware. Hoopes Reservoir is a reservoir in New Castle County, Delaware.
The reservoir first impounded the water of Old Mill Stream and Red Clay Creek in 1932, with a dam built by the city of Wilmington, Delaware, for municipal drinking water. It has a water surface of 187 acres, a maximum capacity of 11,000 acre-feet, and a normal capacity of 6300 acre-feet. The reservoir and its surroundings have been open to the public since 1971. It is the largest reservoir in Delaware.
The dam, Edgar M. Hoopes Dam (National ID # DE00015), is a concrete gravity dam originally built in 1932 and restructured several times since. It is 135 feet high and 845 feet in length at the crest. Its namesake, Edgar M. Hoopes, was Chief Engineer of the Wilmington Water Department from 1913 through 1918, according to a plaque on site.[10]
Mt. Airy School No. 27
Mt. Airy No. 27 School is a historic one-room school built in 1863 in Centreville, New Castle County, Delaware. It was designed and built as a one-room, one-teacher school, and operated as such from 1863 to 1932. It is now used as a private residence.
A gable-roofed portico stands in front of the entrance, with a small bell tower or cupola on the main roof just above it. Three large six-over-six windows are on each side of the building.
In 1983, at the same time the school was listed the Centreville Historic District, the Joseph Chandler House, and Carpenter-Lippincott House, all located nearby, were also listed.[11]